Having been crossing gybes with Armel Tripon last night on the approach to the Doldrums, Jonathan McKee has once again broken clear and is now leading the second leg of the Mini Transat by 10 miles. Also Pierre Rolland (347 – Extrado) lying in third place has benefited from taking route further out to the east and is now just 22 miles behind McKee. Those at the top of the fleet, however, are now bobbing around in the Doldrums trying to squeeze every inch of speed from their boats and retain their places as the rest of the fleet closes up.

In the production boat fleet David Raison retains his solid lead of 36 miles over David Sineau (428- France Fermetures) while Brieuc Maisoneuve (250- Pays Granvillais) has dropped back to eighth place.

British sailor Ian Munslow has been making some smart moves working his way up to 15th position just behind Raison. Teammate, James Bird (youngest sailor in the fleet) has also been improving his position and is now in 49th place.

Cian McCarthy the 25-year-old Irishman seems to be retaining his top of the fleet position despite his surprise at finishing fifth on the first leg. He’s currently in ninth place but has good speed and looks set for another reasonable result.

Meanwhile gear failures continue with Stéphane Ayrault (135- Wyeth) reporting masthead problems and unable to use his spinnaker. Arsène Ledertheil (333- La Cigogne de l’Océan) has broken his spinnaker halyard but plans to make repairs as soon as condition s allow.

Positions at 0700

1 247 Jonathan Mc Kee TEAM MC LUBE proto

2 151 Armel Tripon MOULIN ROTY proto

3 347 Pierre Rolland EXTRADO proto

4 431 Samuel Manuard TIP TOP TOO – LE GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE proto

5 353 Willy Garcia CEYLAN DIAMANTES proto

6 354 Bruno Garcia SALADINO proto

7 139 François Cuinet REGLISSE proto

8 240 Alex Pella AQUATEC – SANTIVERI – TEXKNIT proto

9 393 Cian Mc Carthy THE TOM CREAN proto

10 346 Sébastien Roubinet ADRENALINE proto

11 312 Pascal Doin ASNQ proto

12 260 Richard Mérigeaux BON PIED BON OEIL proto

13 385 Jaume Mumbru PORT DE BARCELONA proto